Photographic printing apparatus



p 1960 T. E. F. SANDERSON ETAL 2,953,077

PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING APPARATUS Filed June 18, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 1Sept. 20, 1960 T. E. F. SANDERSON ETAL 2,953,077

PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING APPARATUS Filed June 18, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 N9' LL.

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PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 18, 1958 mUE ' IN wszv raRJ 7/70/10: 0 wmo fTm/vc/J Savages o/v 0a/v/u0 9/155:

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PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING APPARATUS Filed June 18, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 4HTTOR/VEYJ m M 4 SR 51 K 4. 5 G 51 W :59 F #00 im. 9 m m H ow 2 O Y x Jom 0 8 3 1 a w e ufl w Fm THO/7H5 FIG.7

Filed June 18, 1958 p 1960 I T. E. F. SANDERSON ETAL 2,953,077

PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING APPARATUS 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG. 5

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PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING APPARATUS Filed June 18, 1958 6 Sheets-Sheet 6INVENTO/Ri' United States Patent PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTING APPARATUS ThomasEdward Francis Sanderson, Pinner, and Donald Amsel, London, England,assignors to Copycat Limited, London, England, a British company FiledJune 18, 1958, Ser. No. 742,919

7 Claims. (Cl. 95-75) This invention relates to automatically operatingphotographic printing apparatus. Apparatus in accordance with theinvention includes means for efiecting the step by step feed of acontinuous web of photo-sensitive sheet material past a printingposition at which a negative, or other master to be copied, ispositioned and the apparatus operates automatically and successively toclamp the length of web at the printing position against the master, toexpose it to light for a preselected length of time, to release theclamped web, to advance it through a predetermined distance to bring afresh length of the web to the printing position, and to sever apreviously exposed length from the web.

. In the preferred form of the invention, the apparatus automaticallyrepeats this cycle of operations any preselected number of times (up to,say, 100) and then ceases to operate until restarted manually.Preferably also the apparatus includes means for developing the exposedsheets as they are delivered by the printer, sothat the completeapparatus constitutes a fully automatic print making machine.

. The accompanying drawings show by way of example one form of apparatusconstructed in accordance with the invention. In these drawings Figure 1is a side view of the apparatus with an inspection door removed; Figure2 is a front view of the apparatus with parts omitted and of feed rolls10 for effecting the step by step movement of the web and thence to aguillotine 11 for severing exposed sections from the web and a developerunit 12. Referring to Figure 4, a hollow roll 13 of photo-sensitivepaper to be printed on is held between a pair of coned end members, faston a rotatably supported spindle 14. The web of paper 15 drawn from thisroll passes round a guide 16, carried on a U-shaped frame 17, which ispivotally supported at 18. One arm of frame 17 carries a brake pad 19adapted to engage a disc 20, fast on spindle 14. Each time that the web15 is pulled by the feed rollers 10, the frame 17 is raised about itspivot, releasing the brake and shortening the path of the websufliciently to prevent a sudden pull upon the roll 13. When the feedrollers 10' stop, the frame 17 drops back to the position shown, takingup the length of web delivered by continued rotation of roll 13 andapplying the brake to halt such robroken away to show internal features;Figure 3 is a plan net '1, having a flat table top 2, the centralportion of which is formed by a plane sheet of glass 3. The upper partof the cabinet contains three tubular electric lamps 40f the fluorescenttype, which constitute the source of printing light. A shutter 5 formedby a pair of hinged flaps (shown in the open position) is interposedbetween the light source and the glass top of the cabinet. A cover, orhead 6, having its underside. for-med by a yielding cushion, ofpneumatic or other suitable construction, is attached at its rear edgeto the cabinet by a hinged connection 7. Closure of the head 6 operates(in a manner described below) to open the shutter 5 and initiate theexposure, while a small upward movement of the head closes the shutterand terminates the exposure. A handle Son the front edge of the headallows the latter to be fully raised when desired and a stay (not shown)is provided for holding it in this position.

A reel of photographic paper, or other stock to be printed on, issupported in a casing 9 at the front of the cabinet 1, the free end ofthe web (which is not shown down) across the transparent top of thecabinet to a'pair tation.

The negative, or other master to be printed from, is supported on theflat transparent top 3 of the cabinet, beneath the web of printingstock. A master sheet to be printed from is laid between a pair ortransparent flexible sheets 21, which are bound together along theirfront edges but are otherwise unconnected. The upper sheet may be madeslightly longer and narrower than the lower sheet to facilitate theirseparation. A bar longitudinally slidable in guides 22, extendingtransversely across the front part of the cabinet top 2 carries anoperating handle 23 and two sets of projections, each adapted to engagein apertures provided in the binding strips of the master carriers 21.One set of these projections is always exposed on one side or the otherof the web of printing stock. A carrier with a master in position isengaged over the exposed set of projections and the bar is then shiftedlaterally to position the master beneath the Web, at the same timemoving the master which was previously in printing position clear of theweb, ready for unloading.

The feed rolls 10, guillotine 11 and developer unit 12 are moveablysupported on guides 24 extending rearwardly from the cabinet, so thatthe distance of the guillotine from the rear edge of the length of stockin the printing position can be adjusted to be equal to the length ofthe steps by which the web is advanced. The feed rolls and guillotineare driven through clutches (Whose operation is described below) by amain electric motor (not shown), housed in the lower part of the cabinet-1. The developer unit is driven by a separate electric motor 25. Thedrive to the feed rolls and guillotine is through belt 26, gearing 27,belt 28 and a tandem pair of chains housed in casings 29, 30. The chainsprockets are supported by articulated links, so that the drive is notaffected by alterations in the positions of the feed rolls andguillotine relative to the cabinet. In the apparatus described,alteration of the length of the steps by which the web is advanced iseffected by replacing the feed rolls (which make two completerevolutions in each cycle of operation) by rolls of different diameter,but such alteration could be elfected by providing suitable change speedgear in the drive to the rolls.

The cabinet 1 also accommodates the electrical equipment required forstarting up and operating the lamps 4, an exhauster fan which, driven byits own electric motor, discharges warm air from the cabinet through anoutlet 31, and a blower 32 driven by an electric motor 33 which deliversa stream of cooling air through a hose 34 across the underside of theglass sheet 3. Electric switches 35, 36, 37 mounted on the cabinetcontrol respectively the lamps 4, the main drive motor and the developermotor 25, and the motors driving the fan and blower.

The main electric motor, which runs continuously while the apparatus isin operation and drives the feed 3 rolls and guillotine, also drivesthrough belt 38 an hydraulic pump mounted within an oil reservoir 39,which delivers oil through a pipe 40 to a vertically disposed ramcylinder 41. The upper end of the ram cylinder is surrounded bya cup 42,any oil which may overflow collecting in-this eu andjdraining backthrough a pi e 43 to thereservoir 39. The vertically moving member 44 ofthe ram is adapted to engaged an operating arm 45 secured to the head 6and to raise the latter sufiiciently to allow free movement of the webof printing stock and (when necessary) of the master holders 21, thehead being held raised so long as hydraulic pressure is maintained inthe ram cylinder.

during a previous cycle of operation past the blades of the guillotine.Shortly before completing its movement, the feed roller drive shaftoperates to engage a second one revolution clutch, included in the finaldrive to the guillotine. The guillotine accordingly operates to sever anexposed length of stock from the web and a pull is given to Bowden cable60. As explained above, this 3 moves thetiming piston 58 to the innerend of its cylin- Movement of the operating arm 45 also serves to closeI and open the shutter flaps 5. These flaps are pivotally supportedabout their lower edges between the side bars 46 of a rocking frame,which is itself pivotally supported at 47. Lugs on the inner faces ofthe flaps are coupled by links 48 to fixed anchorages 49. An extensionof one of the bars 46 is engaged by a hook-like member 50 secured to theoperating arm 45. It will be appreciated that a small upward movement ofthe operating arm will raise the rocking frame about its pivotsufficiently to swing the shutter flaps 5 inwardly and downwardly intosubstantially horizontal positions, where they overlap and form aneffective screen between the lamps 4 and the glass plate 3 Returndownward movement of the operating arm allows the rocking frame to drop,opening the flaps to the position shown.

Referring now to Figure 5, the oil pump 5-1 within the reservoir 39draws oil from the bottom of the reservoir through a pipe 52 fitted witha control cock 53 and delivers it (as stated above) to the ramcylinders. The delivery pipe has a branch 54, fitted with a control cock55, which communicates with a relief port 56 in the wall of a timingcylinder 57, immersed in the oil in reservoir 39. A piston 58 working inthis cylinder is urged by a spring 59 der, allowing the head '6 to movedown and clamp the paper and opening the shuter 5 to start theexposure.- After an interval determined by the setting of valve 62, thehead is raised and the shutter closed, thus completing the cycle.

Automatic repetition of the printing cycle and the automatic stopping ofthe apparatus after a preselected number of cycles have been performedare effected by the mechanism shown in Figures 6 and 7. Mounted beneathacontrol panel 66 (shown also in Figure 3.) is a lever 67, pivotallysupported at 68, to which is attached the tension member of Bowden cable65. A pawl 69, pivoted at 70 to lever 67, is urged by a compressionspring 71 into the position shown, where its nose lies in the path 7 ofthe nose 72 of the head operating arm 45. When the arm descends, pawl 69is temporarily swung aside, but on I manually by depressing a second.spring loaded button 74 which tilts lever 67 sufficiently far in thereverse directowards the outer end of its stroke (as shown), where itcloses the relief port, so that pressure in the ram cylinder ismaintained and the head is held raised. When the guillotine operates apull is given to the tension member of a Bowden cable 60 and this actsto move the piston 58 to the inner end of its stroke, the oil in thetiming cylinder escaping through a non-return valve 61 at the inner endof the cylinder. The relief port 56 is thereby opened, releasing thepressure in the ram cylinder, so that the head is allowed to closed downonto the top of the cabinet, clamping the length of the paper web whichis in printing position against the master. As explained above, thismovement of the head opens the shutter and starts the printing exposure.Oil then flows from the reservoir into the timing cylinder through apassage controlled by a needle valve 62, which can be adjusted by meansof a Bowden cable 63 to alter the period of exposure. The piston 58accordingly moves gradually back under the infiuence of its spring 59,at a rate determined by the setting of the needle valve 62, until itbegins to uncover a tion to carry the nose of pawl 69 clear of the pathof the nose 72 of the operating arm.

The mechanism for automatically stopping the apparatus after a givennumber of cycles have been performed includes a peripherally tootheddisc 75 disposed horizontally below control panel 66 and above the levelof lever 67 and rotatably supported. A vertical shaft 76 passing freelythrough the centre of disc 75 carries at its lower end an arm 77, at theouter end of which is an upstanding projection 78 formed with aninwardly facing tooth which engages between two of the teeth of disc 75.Shaft 76 passes slideably through a drum 79, to which it is keyed, andhas an operating knob 80 at its upper end. A compression spring 81 urgesthe shaft into the raised position shown and a clockspring 82 housedwithin drum 79 urges the shaft in a clockwise direction. While the shaftis raised, the engagement of projection 78 with the toothed disc 75ensures that projection 78 (together with arm 77,

a shaft 76, drum 79 and knob 80) will not move relative port 64 in thecylinder wall which permits free entry of j oil. The piston then rapidlycompletes its movement, closing the relief port 56 and allowing thepump'to restore the pressure in the ram cylinder and thus raise thehead, thereby closing the shutter and terminating the exposure. Byadjusting the setting of control cock 53 the speed at which the head israised can bealtered and alteration of the speed at which the headcloses can be effected by adjustment of cock 55.

A cycle of operation of the apparatus is initiated by a pull upon thetension member of a third Bowden cable 65, the head 6 being in itsraised position. This causes the engagement of a one revolution clutchincluded in the final drive to the feed rollers. A 1 to 2 step up gearis included between the clutch and the feed rollers, so that theserollers make two complete revolutions and advance the web ofphotographic material to bring a fresh length into printing position andto move the length exposed to the toothed disc 75. When knob isdepressed manually, spring 82 rotates the shaft 76 and its associatedparts until (as shown) a projection 83 on the drum engages a stop 84carried by a graduated dial 85, which rotatably surrounds the shaftabove the control panel 66 and below the drum 79. The dial 85 carriesmarkings (indicating the number of cycles to be performed) whichco-operate with a fixed index 86 on the control panel, and it can besecured in any desired position of adjustment by a clamping screw 87. Itwill be appreciated that the position of adjustment of the dial 85determines the position to which the projection 78 will be moved byspring 82 when knob 80 is depressed.

Rotationof the toothed disc 75 is effected by a pawl (not shown) carriedon the inner face of the vertical arm of a bell crank lever 88, which ispivotally supported at 89. Lever 88 is urged into the position shown bya tension spring 90, but is rocked (clockwise in Figure 6) when the headoperating arm 45 descends by the engagement of a pin 91 on the operatingarm with the horizontal arm of lever 88; Such movement of "lever 88causes the pawl which it carries to rotate the disc 75 through one toothspace. When the operating arm 45 rises, the lever 88 returns to theposition shown and its pawl rides over the next tooth of the disc 75, aratchet pawl or brake (not shown) preventing reverse rotation of disc75. When the preset number of cycles have been performed, the projection78 is brought into a position where it prevents the return movement oflever 88, so that a nose on the vertical arm ofthis lever engaging a pin92 on pawl 69 holds the pawl clear of the path of arm 45. Arm 45accordingly rises without giving a pull to cable 65 and operation isinterrupted. (It will be understood that every clockwise rockingmovement of lever 88 moves pawl 69 clear of the path of nose 72, butthat during normal operation the parts 88 and 69 return to the positionsshown before arm 45 reaches the position in which it operates cable 65.)The apparatus can be restarted to perform automatically the same numberof cycles as before by first depressing knob 80 to reset member 78 toits original position and then depressing knob 73 to give the initialpull on cable 65. t

The control panel 66 also carries an adjusting screw 93, which operatesthrough Bowden cable 63 to adjust the setting of needle valve 62controlling the exposure period, and a knob 94 which operates to projecta stop (not shown). into the path of operating arm 45 and prevent itsdescent. This stop is employed when it is desired to feed out theexposed length of paper at the printing position without making furtherexposures, for example when the reel of paper is exhausted. When thestop is projected and the start button 73 is depressed, the feed rollsand guillotine operate in the normal manner and the ram rod 44 islowered and raised, but the head 6 remains in raised position .and theshutter 5 is not opened. The automatic repeat mechanism is not operated,but further feed and cuttin'gimovements can be obtained by againdepressing start button 73.

The developing apparatus '12 is disposed a short distance to the rear ofthe guillotine and in the form illustrated comprises a single 'pair ofrollers, which are driven continuously at a peripheral speed less thanthat of the intermittently operating feed rollers of the printer and arepositioned to receive the leading edge of the web fed between thebladesof the guillotine. The lower roller of the pair (not visible inthe drawings) dips into a bath of developing liquid, which isautomatically replenished from a reservoir 95, and thus wets the lowersensitised face of the web. The upper roller 96 is of sponge rubber, orother absorbent material, and during the intervals between the passageof successive exposed sheets it is wetted with the developing liquid bytransfer from the lower roller. During the passage of a sheet, its uppersurface is wetted by the liquid retained in the upper roller, thusensuring thorough wetting of the sheet with the developing liquid. Ifdesired, a second pair of rollers may be provided to squeeze out fromthe sheet excess developing liquid, which is allowed to drain back intothe bath. Owing to the higher peripheral speed of the feed rollers ofthe printer, a hump or loop develops in the web during the latter partof each operation of the feed rollers, this hump being located betweenthe developer rollers and the guillotine blades 11, which latter aredisposed immediately to the rear of the feed rollers 10. When the feedrollers stop and during the operation of the guillotine to sever a sheetfrom the web, the continuously running developer rollers draw the webfrom the loop.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to theparticular form of apparatus described above, which may be modified inmany ways, the following being examples only of the modificationspossible. The action of moving a master into the printing position mayserve to start up the apparatus. The fluorescent lamps may be replacedby any suitable source of light and in appropriate cases the shutter maybe dispensed with, the lamps being switched on and off to start andterminate the exposure.

The light source may be made vertically adjustable, so that when printsof small size are being made it can be raised to increase the printingspeed, while when large prints are being made it can be loweredsufficiently to ensure even illumination over the required area. Insteadof, or in addition to, illuminating the printing material from below, alight source may be arranged in the moveable head, whose undersurface isthen formed by a plane sheet of glass. When two light sources areprovided, they may be used either simultaneously or alternatively, asrequired for the printing operation to be performed. Masters may bepositioned above, or both above and below, the printing stock. If thenature of the photo-sensitive material used so requires, the apparatusmay be arranged to treat the exposed sheets with two or more processingagents in succession.

We claim:

1. Automatically operating photographic printing apparatus for printingon sheet material, said apparatus comprising, in combination, a printingstation including a horizontal transparent table for placing thereon amaster to be printed, transport means for effecting step by step feed ofa web of photo-sensitive sheet material 'to be printed upon, saidtransport means including support means for a roll of said web disposedon one side of said table, a pair of intermittently driven feed rollsdisposed on the other side of said table, said feed rolls receiving theweb from the roll and drawing it step by step across the surface of saidtable, a head disposed above said table movable perpendicularly relativethereto, a hydraulic ram connected to said head, a continuously runningpump supplying the ram, fluid pressure in the ram holding the headraised, a valve which can be opened to relieve the pressure in the ramand thereby allow the head to drop to clamp the master and a length ofweb upon the table against the table surface, timing means forautomatically reclosing the relief valve a predetermined time after ithas been opened, whereby to re-establish pressure inthe ram to raise thehead and release the master and the respective web length, a source oflight disposed beneath the table, means to expose the Web length on thetable to light from said source when the head is lowered and to end suchexposure when the head is raised, cutter means for severing the exposedweb length after the same has been drawn off the table surface andcontrol means controlling the actuation of said transport means, head,light source and cutter means in a sequential cycle and restarting theactuation upon completion of a cycle.

2. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 in which the timing meanscomprise an hydraulic cylinder having in its Wall a port for relievingthe pressure applied to the ram, a non-return valve communicating withsaid port, a piston working in the cylinder and biased to the outer endof its stroke, where it closes the relief port, but moveable to uncoverthe port and expel liquid from the cylinder through the non-returnvalve, the cylinder having an inlet which allows liquid to refill thecylinder at a controlled rate thereby allowing the return of the pistonto reclose the relief port.

3. Automatically operating photographic printing rapparatus for printingon sheet material, said apparatus comprising, in combination, a printingstation including a horizontal transparent table for placing thereon amaster to be printed, transport means for effecting step by step feed ofa web of photosensitive sheet material to be printed upon, saidtransport means including support means for a roll of said web disposedon one side of said table, a pair of intermittently driven feed rollsdisposed on the other side of said table, said feed rolls receiving theweb from the roll and drawing it step by step across the surface of saidtable, a head disposed above said table movable perpendicularly relativethereto, means for lowering and raising said head at timed intervals toclamp the master and a length of web upon the table against the tablesurface and to release the master and the respective web length, asource of light disposed beneath the table, means to expose the weblength on the table to light from said source when the head is loweredand to end such exposure when the head is raised, cutter means forsevering the exposed web length after the same has been drawn ofi thetable surface, control means controlling the actuation of said transportmeans, head, light source and cutter means in a sequential cycleterminating with the raising of said head, a lever rockable to start thecycle of actuation, manually operable means for rocking said lever, apawl carried on said lever and normally lying in the path of anoperating member moving with said head, so that on upward movement ofthe head at the termination of one cycle of operation said operatingmember will engage the pawl and rock the lever to start another cycle ofoperation, a blocking member movable to an operative position in whichit holds the pawl withdrawn from the path of said operating member, andmeans responsive to the performance of a predetermined number ofcomplete cycles of operation for moving said blocking member tooperative position.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 in which said blocking membercomprises a projection carried by a toothed disc, the disc being rotatedstep by step, to bring the projection into position to block movement ofsaid pawl, by means of a. second pawl operated by the rising and fallingmovements of the head.

5. Apparatus in accordance with claim 4, in which the blockingprojection is releasably coupled to the toothed disc and is biased forrotation relative to it, so that on being uncoupled from the disc itreturns to a starting position determined by a stop, which is adjustablein position to alter the number of cycles that will be performed beforethe projection is brought into blocking position.

6. Automatically operating photographic printing ap paratus for printingon sheet material, said apparatus comprising, in combination, a printingstation including a horizontal transparent table, transport means foreffecting step by step feed of a web of photosensitive sheet material tobe printed upon, said transport means including support means on oneside of said table for a roll of said web, a pair of intermittentlydriven feed rolls disposed on the other side of said table, said feedrolls receiving the web from the roll, and drawing it step by stepacross the surface of said table, a first master holder for locating onsaid table at a position beneath said web a master to be printed, asecond masterholder for locating on said table at a position clear ofsaid 'web a second master to be printed subsequently to the printing ofsaid first master, said first and second master holders being connectedtogether and mounted for sliding movement transversely of the web,whereby movement of the second master to a position beneath said webmoves said first master clear of the web, the head disposed above saidtable movable perpendicularly relative thereto, means for lowering andraising said head at timed intervals to clamp the master and a length ofweb upon the table against the table surface and to release the masterand the respective web length, a source of light disposed beneath thetable, means to expose the web length on the table to light from saidsource when the head is lowered and to end such exposure when the headis raised, cutter means for severing the exposed web length after thesame has been drawn off the table surface, and control means controllingthe actuation of said transport means, head, light source and cuttermeans in a sequential cycle and restarting the actuation upon completionof a cycle.

7. Apparatus in accordance with claim 6 in which each master holdercomprises a pair of superimposed sheets of flexible transparent materialsecured together along one edge only, and in which a slide is movabletransversely of the web, each of said holders being secured at said oneedge to said slide.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,711,333 Swenson Apr. 30, 1929 2,510,142 Richards June 6, 19502,657,613 Maker Nov. 3, 1953 2,682,817 Gross July 6, 1954 2,780,154Musho Feb. 5, 1957 2,855,834 Doster Oct. 14, 1958 2,857,830 Cohen Oct.28, 1958

